Introduction (read it below)Chapter 1. A Dilemma Across Time and CultureChapter 2. The Strengths and Weaknesses of LuxuryChapter 3. The Environment for LuxuryChapter 4. Luxury and the Search for Meaning﻿﻿﻿(﻿﻿read it here)﻿﻿﻿Chapter 5. Towards a Socially Valuable BusinessChapter 6. Creating a Culture of Shared ValueChapter 7. Adapting the Business ModelChapter 8. The Outlook for Luxury

﻿﻿INTRODUCTION﻿Real luxury is about leadership. Before the word “luxury” became intricately linked to the word “brand,” the makers of luxury were considered purveyors of fineness and quality. They were leaders in their respective product categories. They took a product or a skill and evolved it into the highest expression of its art. The clients for this ennoblement were leaders themselves: the kings, clerics, merchants, and celebrities who served as role models for the values and behaviors of their community. This dual dimension of leadership takes luxury beyond the aspiration of simple ownership and translates it into a fineness and quality of intentions and behavior. Luxury brands and luxury customers influence people to act in a certain way.

We wrote this book for two reasons. First, the economic crisis that began in 2008 made it painfully obvious that the world could not go on with business models that rely solely on growth and put financial gain ahead of all else. Second, luxury brands are in a unique position to help the world find solutions to this problem and forge new paths ahead. The benefits to luxury brands for seizing this opportunity are many. By being social leaders rather than simple manufacturers, they will create a more prosperous and faithful market for luxury products. But to realize these benefits, luxury brands must see themselves in a clear, new light to better understand their role in society and the important potential they hold, both for their own development and the greater good. Do they understand the leadership potential this opportunity presents? Or are they content to play it safe, follow and pander to the market?

We are often asked whether our specialty is branding, strategy, communications, or human resources. Everybody wants to pin us down to one area, one role. But they shortchange themselves. Our work is none of these because it is all of them together, and more: psychology, sociology, philosophy, political science, and economics. We are actors in and observers of the luxury world, with experience in the luxury business and public policy. Above all, we are lovers of luxury who want to see luxury (re)claim its cultural leadership for all the right reasons. So we wrote this book for luxury brand professionals, management students in general, and personal lovers of luxury, who wish to better understand the role of luxury brands in society and adapt their practices to changing attitudes. In it, we provide a method for luxury brands to create value shared by businesses, communities, and, especially, individuals.

We begin in Chapter 1 by tracing the evolutionary arc of luxury in parallel to the evolution of society in order to understand the broad influences that made luxury what it is today, and why luxury can and should bring about the solutions to the challenges we face. Chapter 2 provides an analysis of what luxury can capitalize on and what it must be careful of in seizing the opportunities for leadership in the current socioeconomic and technological environment, which we describe in Chapter 3. ﻿Chapter 4﻿explores the transformation of value-making processes from the past to the present and their trajectory for the future. It presents an argument in favor of “leaps of faith” and sets up the idea of creating holistic, 360-degree value. Continuing this reasoning, Chapter 5 is an in-depth examination of the methods that businesses use to reconcile their commercial imperatives with the need to benefit society.

Chapter 6, which is the heart of our approach, explains the mechanisms by which we can identify areas of value that are relevant to the brand and its stakeholders, taking a business from being self-focused to other-focused, and building the bridge between creating art and creating value. Next, it shows how shared value can be turned into corporate purpose, integrating it with the business process. Finally, it shows how to get the individual to buy into a shared value proposition of the brand, creating a corporate culture and grounding the brand reputation in its actions and operations. Recognizing the demand for business models, Chapter 7 argues against the “business case” as an outdated and inhibiting tool, and in favor of building a value model that can help a company take the necessary risks that lead to innovation. In conclusion, Chapter 8 spells out how the ideas presented in this book work and will apply to the business of luxury going forward.

But this book is not a “how to” guide ; it is not a technical handbook that shows you how to get from point A to point B. Rather, it is a “why” guide, advocating that luxury brands must first ask themselves why they want to get from point A to point B. Because each brand has a different “why,” so each brand must develop its own “how.” The methods we offer are for establishing a luxury brand’s relationship with the world around it, defining its identity and purpose, and aligning its business processes and communications in such a way as to ensure its consistency and relevance for the long term. These methods are not for luxury brands alone. Indeed, they can be applied by any brand with sufficient visibility and presence in the popular culture; any brand with emotional sway. We address this book to luxury brands because of the unique set of strengths and opportunities they have available to them, allowing them to set an example and assert leadership and authority to complement the creativity and desirability they so cherish. ﻿